Looking at the table of contents, I think it's weird there's not a section on freezer meals and prepping for after childbirth. But maybe things like that are integrated into the book.

My copy of this arrived yesterday. I think it's good, but it could be better. The nutrition suggestions at the beginning are pretty minimal, and it doesn't discuss things like avoiding sprouts or gestational diabetes. The recipes come with little icons saying if the recipe is high in folic acid, protein, zinc, iron, calcium, iodine, or b12. However, the nutrition info that comes with each recipe is minimal. Calories, fat, protein, fiber. I think it's a missed opportunity not to have carbohydrates and exact amounts of the important vitamins and minerals. I think there's probably a good number of women who would like to track those things more carefully. There's a good variety of recipes. A fair amount of vegan meat and dairy subs, but plenty of recipes without either. Nothing earth shatteringly new, but the recipes seem like they have a good amount of seasoning in them and won't be bland.

I did NOT like Holly Roberts' book because her protein recommendations were totally out of whack with the rest of the universe, both mainstream ADA info and vegan RDs' info (she recommended 60g/day). I didn't trust the rest of her information after that.

Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:51 amPosts: 5876Location: United States of New England

Ariann wrote:

I did NOT like Holly Roberts' book because her protein recommendations were totally out of whack with the rest of the universe, both mainstream ADA info and vegan RDs' info (she recommended 60g/day). I didn't trust the rest of her information after that.

hmm....to be honest i didnt even notice that, but it's definitely a good point.

when i realized i needed to keep track of what i was eating i went to Vegan for Life for my info.

+1 for Vegan for Life. It was recommended by several here, and I picked it up a couple of months ago as Freya was hitting the one year mark and I started thinking more about her nutritional needs aside from mama milk. Very good info there!

Looking at the table of contents, I think it's weird there's not a section on freezer meals and prepping for after childbirth. But maybe things like that are integrated into the book.

My copy of this arrived yesterday. I think it's good, but it could be better. The nutrition suggestions at the beginning are pretty minimal, and it doesn't discuss things like avoiding sprouts or gestational diabetes. The recipes come with little icons saying if the recipe is high in folic acid, protein, zinc, iron, calcium, iodine, or b12. However, the nutrition info that comes with each recipe is minimal. Calories, fat, protein, fiber. I think it's a missed opportunity not to have carbohydrates and exact amounts of the important vitamins and minerals. I think there's probably a good number of women who would like to track those things more carefully. There's a good variety of recipes. A fair amount of vegan meat and dairy subs, but plenty of recipes without either. Nothing earth shatteringly new, but the recipes seem like they have a good amount of seasoning in them and won't be bland.

Thanks for the review! So helpful! I would have bought it if I were pregnant. I think some people when pregnant for the first time will buy anything that promises to make them feel even the slightest bit more prepared :)

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.

I really liked the Happiest Baby on the Block. The calming techniques were invaluable for those first few weeks when she cried so much. I got the What to Expect - The First Year, Girlfriend's Guide to the First Year and about 20 others (but not the Sears book), but I think Happiest Baby was the only one I referred to really regularly.

I really like Happiest Toddler for where L is now.

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.

I second Happiest Baby, but I really recommend watching the video. I wouldn't buy it, but I was able to check it out from the library so maybe you could find a copy that way. Seeing the techniques was very helpful in a way that reading wasn't. The book is very repetitive. The video was also super helpful for my partner who was not really going to read any baby care books. That video saved us the first month.

Also I have the aap book Ariann mentioned I think? Taking your Newborn Home or something like that. Very practical.

The Happiest Baby on the Block video was so wonderful for us. We were run ragged with a newborn who only slept ON us for short periods of time and we had no way to calm him and we went into his 3 week ped appointment apparently looking extremely haggard and God bless her, the pediatrician told us to go home and watch this video and we were amazed how the techniques worked! Swaddling, and shushing were magic!

Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:51 amPosts: 5876Location: United States of New England

im not entirely sure what kind of info im looking for becuase i literally know nothing about babies. so pretty much anything.

the Happiest Baby book sounds good. i think i will check that out.i guess anything that tells you how to care for a newborn and stuff like swaddling, etc.also similar to the pregnancy books like "week 3 your baby will be doing xyz"though if it's anything like my pregnancy than it will not apply :-P

it looks like our library carries the Happiest Baby dvd so maybe this weekend we will go check it out.

We actually didn't get the Newborn book, we got Caring for Your Baby and Young Child (which I think goes up to age 5). What I liked about it were the developmental milestones, which are broken up into different categories (verbal, motor, etc.) and the fact that it seemed really measured and unbiased. There's also an excellent quick reference in the back which we used to figure out various infant mystery ailments. There were some good notes about how to care for kids, but we actually didn't use much beyond the L&D nurses' instructions on bathing, diapering, and clothing (we asked a lot of questions in the hospital), the lactation consultants' instructions (she gave us very good advice about how to bottle feed which we really needed), and our instincts. Neither of us went into this knowing anything about newborns, but we trusted we'd figure it out.

The Goose that Almost Got Cooked by Marc SimontA Home for Henny by Karen DavisMadeline and the Bad Hat by Ludwig Bemelmanszeralda's Ogre by Tommy UngererThe Girl Who Loved Caterpillars by Jean MerrrillForest Child by Marnee McGeeThe Story of a Dolphin by Katherine OrrVictor the Vegetarian by Radha Vignola"To Market, To Market""Hey there little ant""That's Why We Don't Eat Animals" by Ruby Roth

We actually didn't get the Newborn book, we got Caring for Your Baby and Young Child (which I think goes up to age 5). What I liked about it were the developmental milestones, which are broken up into different categories (verbal, motor, etc.) and the fact that it seemed really measured and unbiased. There's also an excellent quick reference in the back which we used to figure out various infant mystery ailments. There were some good notes about how to care for kids, but we actually didn't use much beyond the L&D nurses' instructions on bathing, diapering, and clothing (we asked a lot of questions in the hospital), the lactation consultants' instructions (she gave us very good advice about how to bottle feed which we really needed), and our instincts. Neither of us went into this knowing anything about newborns, but we trusted we'd figure it out.

agree..besides the parenting tips, i was eager to learn the caring for tips when having my #1..luckily, there're lactating tips/talks at the hospital where i'm delivering, and i can attend for free during my stay after childbirth, and 24-hr hotlines for advice, and guidebooks when we sign up as member of the hospital..so i found myself immersed in info overload, and not having alot of time for reading all the books..including online info..

I don't know if this one is mentioned here but The Everything Vegan Pregnancy book is pretty good. I saw it at my midwives office and borrowed it to have a look through. Lots of good info about vegan nutrition while pregnant and simple ways to add in extra iron, calcium, zinc etc. I have been vegan for a long time and on my 2nd vegan pregnancy and still found this book resourseful. I haven't looked through them yet but there is also a bunch of recipes in the back too.

I love Peppa Pig - all the characters are animals, the food shown is always vegetarian, the parents and children all interact in a really nice and respectful way and there are adults in non-gender typical jobs so the fire brigade is all the mums and Miss Rabbit is the rescue helicopter pilot. And they are focused on simple joys - so each child gets one present or chocolate egg, not huge amounts. My only issue so far is that they depict Father Christmas as real, but those episodes are easy to skip.

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.